Power of Words in The Book Thief Essay Sample

Words, often believed to be the most powerful tool known to mankind, are also the deadliest weapons on the face of planet earth. Throughout the novel, The Book Thief  written by Marcus Zusak, words are used in both capacities. Throughout the novel Zusak uses a serious tone, with slight undertones of hope, which conveys the message of the power of words; words gave one girl a voice while worlds also destroyed relationships and hurt innocent people. The author of the novel presents two opposing ideas on the usage of words, however truthfully words themselves are neither good or bad, but simply a device used to express one’s feelings, it truly depends on the intention.

Several times throughout the novel words were used to give the powerless a voice. One person whose life was changed by words was Liesel‘s, who at a young age realized that words are extremely powerful. When Liesel first started reading books she struggled, however as time moved on she made progress. The biggest impact on her learning to read was having access to a library. When a client of her mom's laundry service invited her into a library her entire universe expanded, “When she [Liesel] sat on the floor, with the mayor's wife at her husband's desk, she felt an innate sense of power. It happened every time she deciphered a new word or pieced together a sentence” (Zusak 147). Every time Liesel opened a book she “became” more powerful simply because of the words. These words taught her to think critically and logically, but more importantly she used her words to calm others as well as create friendships and close bonds with other people. Words have endless possibilities they can be used for good and evil but in this case words were used as a tool for helping others. 

Similar to the positive effects of words displayed in the novel, words were also displayed as having negative effects on people. When Liesel encountered Max on his march to the concentration camp, Liesel realized just how horrible the Führer was and it was because of the power of his words, this caused her to break down and she screamed “Why did they [words] have to exist? Without them, there wouldn 't be any of this. Without words, the Führer was nothing. There would be no limping prisoners, no need for consolation or wordly tricks to make us feel better” (Zusak 521). Liesel began to realize just how powerful words were rather than if they were good or bad.  She had previously loved the words and thought that sentences were the most “magical” things on earth, however as soon as words were used for bad things, such as Hitler’s final solution,  Liesel could not stand them. This shows that good things or ideas can be ruined by malicious intentions, in this case the most beautiful thing to Liesel, words, were ruined by the Führer’s plan for ultimate “glory”. 

Words, whether used as a negative weapon or a positive tool are often regarded as powerful and mighty but that is not necessarily true, it is the person behind the words, the person who chooses to use the words to hurt or uplift others. Throughout the novel, words help people but other times hurt other people. The author displays opposing ideas regarding words, but truthfully speaking words can be either good or bad, neither good or bad, or a mixture of the two. The world is not black and white therefore words should not be considered “good” or “bad”  instead they have many shades of intent.